Automating SSHFS Shares for Seamless File Access

Published on August 24, 2025

Tired of Manual Mounting? There's a Better Way.

If you're a Linux user who works across multiple machines, you know the pain of constantly having to log in and copy files. Using SSHFS is a powerful way to mount remote directories as if they were local, but doing it manually every time you reboot or reconnect is a chore. This guide, based on my own trial-and-error, provides a simple, robust solution to automate the process once and for all.

The Prerequisites: Setting the Stage for Success

Before you write a single line of script, you need to ensure your computers are set up to talk to each other seamlessly. This involves two non-negotiable steps:

1. Configure Your `hosts` File

The `hosts` file is your computer's local phonebook for network addresses. By giving your remote machine a friendly name, you can refer to it by that name instead of its often-changing IP address.

Open your `/etc/hosts` file with `sudo` and a text editor. 

sudo micro /etc/hosts

Add a line to the end of the file that maps your remote machine's IP address to a hostname of your choice. I'll use `alsdesk` as an example. 

192.168.1.100 alsdesk

2. Set Up Passwordless SSH Login

This is the core of the solution. `sshfs` uses `ssh` in the background, so you need to configure a trusted connection that doesn't require a password. The easiest way to do this is with the `ssh-copy-id` utility.

Run the following command in your terminal, replacing `al@alsdesk` with your username and the hostname you chose above. 

ssh-copy-id al@alsdesk

You will be prompted for your remote machine's password one last time. After that, your public key is copied, and you can connect to your remote machine password-free.

The `sshfs` Mounting Script

With the prerequisites handled, the mounting script is straightforward. It's clean, repeatable, and can be run manually or set up to run on system startup. 

#!/usr/bin/env bash

# This script mounts several directories from a remote computer (alsdesk)
# using sshfs, ensuring seamless file access.

# Check if the directories are already mounted to avoid errors
if mountpoint -q /home/al/als; then
    echo "Fileshare already mounted. Skipping."
else
    # Mount the main home directory share
    sshfs -o allow_other,IdentityFile=.ssh/id_rsa,default_permissions,uid=1000,gid=1000 al@alsdesk:/home/al/ /home/al/als
    echo "Main home directory mounted successfully."
fi

# Mount the /var/www directory
if mountpoint -q /home/al/www; then
    echo "www share already mounted. Skipping."
else
    sshfs -o allow_other,IdentityFile=.ssh/id_rsa,default_permissions,uid=1000,gid=1000 al@alsdesk://var/www /home/al/www
    echo "www share mounted successfully."
fi

# Mount the Media directory
if mountpoint -q /home/al/Media; then
    echo "Media share already mounted. Skipping."
else
    sshfs -o allow_other,IdentityFile=.ssh/id_rsa,default_permissions,uid=1000,gid=1000 al@alsdesk:/home/al/Media /home/al/Media
    echo "Media share mounted successfully."
fi

# Mount the Movies directory
if mountpoint -q /home/al/Movies; then
    echo "Movies share already mounted. Skipping."
else
    sshfs -o allow_other,IdentityFile=.ssh/id_rsa,default_permissions,uid=1000,gid=1000 al@alsdesk:/home/al/Movies /home/al/Movies
    echo "Movies share mounted successfully."
fi

# Mount the Videos directory
if mountpoint -q /home/al/Videos; then
    echo "Videos share already mounted. Skipping."
else
    sshfs -o allow_other,IdentityFile=.ssh/id_rsa,default_permissions,uid=1000,gid=1000 al@alsdesk:/home/al/Videos /home/al/Videos
    echo "Videos share mounted successfully."
fi

You can save this script to a file (e.g., `~/scripts/mount_shares.sh`), make it executable with `chmod +x`, and run it to mount all your shares at once.

Why This is Better than `keychain`

While utilities like `keychain` are useful for managing your SSH agent, a simple `sshfs` script addresses the root problem directly. By setting up a passwordless key and mounting the shares with `sshfs`, you eliminate the need to interact with a key agent at all, resulting in a cleaner, more direct, and more reliable solution for your specific use case.

About the Author

I'm not a Silicon Valley developer. I'm a lifelong tinkerer and a system administrator who has been building, breaking, and fixing computer systems since the days of the Altair 8800. My experience is grounded in decades of hands-on work, from managing radio repair shops without a formal degree to architecting my own remote-access homelab. I build tools to solve my own problems, with a focus on simplicity, control, and a deep respect for the user.

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